Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has "urged F1 to push ahead with plans" to substantially speed up the cars for '17, according to GRAND PRIX. Horner's comments "follow hot on the heels" of former protege Sebastian Vettel claiming F1 risks becoming "lost" amid the "controversial power unit era" in which Mercedes is dominating. At the launch of Red Bull's '16 livery, Horner said, "I think Sebastian is right in that the drivers need to be the stars. We've got a chance for 2017 and it's important that we get that right." While the '17 shakeup has been under discussion for some time, there have been "rumblings recently that Mercedes is urging caution and Pirelli is warning that laptime cannot be slashed unless much more testing is done." Behind the scenes, the "situation appears highly political," amid rumors the FIA is "even keeping open its options to bring Michelin back to the negotiating table." Auto Motor und Sport claimed that Michelin thinks high-performance tires can be supplied "without testing," and it could explain why the FIA "is yet to sign off" Pirelli's new '17 F1 contract (GRAND PRIX, 2/18).
